230729 Active Sailing Voyage from the Shetland Islands to Rotterdam
Question: Did the voyage meet expectations?
Sailing: When you go sailing, you are primarily at the mercy of the wind. Currents are another determining factor. Currents are fairly predictable, but the wind… Well, looking at the weather forecasts in advance, it was clear that the wind was coming from the wrong angle to leave the harbour under sail. Fortunately, the Eendracht is equipped with a powerful engine.
From the Shetland Islands: Simply reaching the ship was already an adventure. Many of the crew chose to book a pre-voyage overnight stay (230728), which also allowed them to enjoy a day at Sail Lerwick. But who could have anticipated the fog? Twice, planes were unable to land on the Shetland Islands, leaving three crew members unable to join the ship on time.
To Rotterdam: Flexible as ever, the voyage plans were adapted. As the saying goes, “If Mohammed won’t go to the mountain, the mountain comes to Mohammed.” Some crew members arrived by ferry, others were picked up directly from their lodgings. On Saturday morning, we set course for Aberdeen to collect the stranded crew. In the end, everyone arrived safely in Rotterdam.
Active: At first glance, the voyage seemed mostly reactive. Plans to spend a night in sunny Aberdeen shifted to a course for the Farne Islands. Plans to go ashore there were changed due to avian influenza to “observe from a distance.” And the distant birdwatching, hampered by fog, turned into a further sail with the lighthouse silhouette barely visible through binoculars.
Then the voyage truly became active, in the sense of precise navigation between sandbanks and wind farms while capturing as much wind as possible. A low-pressure system was moving through, bringing strong winds and heavy showers. We alternated between: sailing with full sails (without gaff topsails), taking the sails down, anchoring in the eye of the storm, sailing with reefs in the sails, and sailing with only the mainmast, jib, and inner jib.
Along the English coast, the sails only needed trimming. The inner jib, however, was hoisted and lowered several times as the wind picked up and dropped again. Further south, we tacked and even performed a storm manoeuvre (gybing with a large ship).
The voyage was also active because of the swell. There was certainly some rocking; it lulled us to sleep at times. But the journey was by no means smooth—we were tossed from one wave to the next. Fortunately, no one suffered from seasickness. Whether this was due to preventive patches (long expired) or because we’ve all developed sea legs… who can say?
Answer: The voyage exceeded all my expectations in the best possible way!
Geraldine